Gas-producer.



N0- 83'7,026. PATENTED NOV. 27, 1906. G. L. ARMSTRONG. GAS PRODUCER.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 16,1905

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gr n rung rarest orri Ei CHARLES aansraoue; cash Louis. M ssouai senses.

Specification of Letterslatent.

' Patented. Nov. 87, 1906.

t Application filed December 15, 1905. Serial Il'o. 292.002,

I erence being had tothe accompanying draw in s, formlng a art hereof. p iy invention as relation to improvements in gas-producers ;-and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

in the draw s, Fi re 1 is a middle vertical section taken t ough the producer. Fig. 2 is a combined plan and section on the broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1-. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional detail of the steam and air injector; and Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of the pokehole valve, showing the application thereto of the poker or stirring-bar.

The object of my invention is to construct a as-producer in which a mixture of preferab ly saturated steam and air is forced downward at stated intervals through the fuel charge, the downward current being in a measure sup lernented by the suction on the bottom of t e fuel, resulting from the ab straction, of the producer-gas by the engine to which the same is su plied.

A special feature of the device is a pressure in the upper'part of the generator produced by the introduction of said steam mixed with air in a suitable proportion.

rent or flow of the hiterrnixed steam and air, and thus to facilitate the expulsion of gas through and from the lower portion of the generator. A more imortant effect is to condense the material esigned for conversion into gas (especially when this material is of light texture or character like peat, lignite, coal-slack, &c.) and maintain continuity and homogeneity in the bed within which partial combustion and the accompanying gasification take place. A still more important effect is to promote union of carbon and oxygen molecules by condensation, and thus to increase the formation of CO and the keepin of CO down to a minimum. Incidenta ly the pressure tends also to raise the temperature of the intermixed air and water- One effect of this pressure is to produce a downward our-' vapor, thereby facilitating combustion and reducing the ratio of fuel consumed to that converted into gas. The downward assage of the gas and steam-abd-air mixture t n'ough the mass of incandescent carbon results, too,

in a complete elimination from the char e of all tar roducts, their disappearance resulting from t e, destructive distil ation and 1ncon1- plete combustion to which they are subjected in such passage, the products of such distillation combining with the gases of the solid portions of the charge and con'ointly escaping from the bottom of the pro ucer.

A further object is to construct a producer which shall serve as a furnace for its own boiler, the latter being rovided with a we.- ter-ltube grate for the direct support of the fue A further object is to produce a gas which will not require-a tar extractor or scrubber and from which all solid articles and impurities are eliminated as it eaves the producer, such impurities being deposited a water seal, which at the same time; receives the ashes, all as will hereinafter more fully appear from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows: 1

Referrin to the-drawings, 1 represents the outer meta shell of the roducer or generator, and 2 the inner fire-bri lining thereof. The cross-section of the producer is preferably circular, though it may be any shape desired. The generator rests on a lower annular header 3 and is surmounted by a similar header 4,'the two being connected by the dirculating'tubes 5, of which there may beany number. The space encompassed by the header 3 is spanned by a series of watertubes 6, which open into the header 3,their opposite ends being supported in the ofi'sets or step-like formations 3 on the inner wall of ed a suitable distance below the Water-tube grate, forming an ash-pit P, at the bottom of which is disposed a conicalhopper7; which directs the ashes into a basin-of water W, the p leadsa pipe 9, whi

" suitable point of consumption or engine.

(Not shown.)

' The header 4 is provided with a cover plate or lid i0, having a central feed-opening non .,;1allYl,QS(ed by a rail 11, the latter being the pipe intothe furnace. pi e around the nozzle are provided withvave-controlled perforations 17 for the infrom the. top of the header 4 is suspend,ed from a link 12 at the end of the short a m of a lever 13, by which the bell is lowered or raised, The lever 13 is mounted in the wall of a feed-hopner 14-, into which the fuel is first introduced, the bell being afterward lowered sufficiently to allow the charge to run down its inclined sides and become deposited in a ring within the combustion-chamber of the generator. Leading a curved steam-pipe 15, which discharges into the combustion-chamber,above the charge, the pipe being rovided with a valve-controlled nozzle 16, w rich directs a 3' st of steam through flux of atmosphericair, which mingles with the steam, the pressure of the combined currents driving t gases which have accurnu' lated within the body of and above the fuel.

oug t e l r and toward th grate. By the time the gases have reached the ashepit the current in th Pipe 9 draws the gases toward the point of consumption, any solid particles mechanically carried over with the for the insertion of a I the tube into the water tralp gases impinging against the vertical walls of the dependingtube 8, the sudden af h of them to drop through.

such particles causing or basin. When the-gases have been expel ed from the mass, the steam may be shut off by seating the steam-valve 18, and the ai may be shut off by closing the sliding air-valve18, as is ob 'vious. The lid is provided with a series of poke-holes 19, closed by spherical valves 20, each valve being provideo with a passage 21 poke-bar'22, by which the fuel may be stirred, if necessary. The

bgr is then withdrawn and the valve or ball given a sufficient turn to bring the passage-way 21 thereof out of register with the opening 19, when escape of the gases is out off. The valve serves as a rotatable bearing or ball-and-sooket joint for the poker-bar during the stirring of the charge. The wator-feed pipe for the boiler is represented at 23 and may lead to any source of water-supply. (Not shown-l The operation can be readily understood from the drawings. When the charge is first The walls of, the I est/nae ignited, of course the temperature of the water in the boiler is insufhcient to furnish steam to expel the gas, and for this purpose steam may e injected from any extraneous source, if desirable; but there will seldom Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A gas-producer comprising a shell or generator, a header at each end thereof, a cover for the to ing the charge t ough the cover, means for establishing a circulating connection between the headers, a series of wa'tentubes opening into the bottom header and spanning the space between the inner walls thereo and serving as a grate for the charge, a steam and air injector -leadin from the top header into thes ace above t e charge, and means for with swing-the producerasfrom a point below the grate, substantial y as set forth.

2. A gas-producer compris' a shell or generator, a header at each e thereof, a cover for the top header, means for introducing the charge through the cover, means for establishing a circulation between the headers along the walls of the shell, a series of inclined water-tubes opening intothe bottom header, means for introducheader and spanning the space between the inner walls thereof and serving as a grate for the charge, a steam and air injector leading from the to header into the space above the charge, and means for withdrawing the producer-gas from a point below the grate, substantially as set forth.

3. In a gas producer, a shell or generator, a header at each end thereof, a cover for the top header, means for introducing the charge through the cover, means for establishing a circulating connection between the headers, a Series of water-tubes opening into the bottom headerand spanning the space between the walls thereof and serving as a grate for the charge, an injector located above the fuel and below the cover for driving the producer-gas through the char e downward, and means for withdrawing t e as from a point below the grate, substantial y as set forth.

4. A gas-producer comprisin -a shell or generator, a header at each en thereof, a cover for the top header, means for introducing the charge through the cover, a series of circulating-tubes disposed along the Walls of the shell and connecting the headers, a series of inclined water-tubes'opening into the bottom header and spanning the space between the inner walls thereof, and serving as a ate for the charge, a steam and air injector eading from the upper -header into the space above the charge, an exhaust-pipe leading from the shell at a point-below the grate, an

open ash-pit below the grate and a water seal for the ash-pit, substantially as set forth. to In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES L. ARMSTRONG.

Witnesses MARY D. WHITCOMB. 

